Yes, we saw some newly invented faux festivals—Balcony Diwas No. 1 and 2. But the colours leached out of India’s real festival calendar this spring—especially if the celebrations were of the sort that revolved around congregating. We just about sneaked in a subdued Holi, on March 10—both Prime Minister Modi and Delhi’s Arvind Kejriwal abstained. The first big event to be officially cancelled was a mega show in Ayodhya for Ram Navami, on April 2. The long phase of Lenten austerity didn’t really seem to end on Easter, April 12. For the cluster of traditional New Years around April 14—from Vishu to Bihu—all the festivities stayed at home.
As the month turned to May, the ilanji tree outside Thrissur’s Vadakkumnathan temple stood lone witness to a strangely empty vista—no percussion from paradise, no ecstatic lakhs. The Pooram had been cancelled, perhaps for the first time since 1962, the war with China. The chariots are being readied at Jagannath, but will they roll on June 23? Puri, in the green zone, hopes so....
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